BERKELEY, CA - MARCH 19: U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) speaks to reporters after addressing the Berkeley Forum on the UC Berkeley campus on March 19, 2014 in Berkeley, California. Paul addressed the Berkeley Forum and focused on the importance of privacy and curtailing domestic government surveillance. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) less

BERKELEY, CA - MARCH 19: U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) speaks to reporters after addressing the Berkeley Forum on the UC Berkeley campus on March 19, 2014 in Berkeley, California. Paul addressed the Berkeley ... more

Senator Rand Paul (second from left) follows moderator Matthew Freeman (left) as they walk off the stage after addressing the Berkeley Forum at the Chevron Auditorium, International House on Wednesday, March 19, 2014, in Berkeley, Calif. less

Senator Rand Paul (second from left) follows moderator Matthew Freeman (left) as they walk off the stage after addressing the Berkeley Forum at the Chevron Auditorium, International House on Wednesday, March ... more

UC Berkeley freshman Ryon Sabouni, 18, listens with others to Senator Rand Paul (not shown) during the Berkeley Forum at the Chevron Auditorium, International House on Wednesday, March 19, 2014, in Berkeley, Calif. less

UC Berkeley freshman Ryon Sabouni, 18, listens with others to Senator Rand Paul (not shown) during the Berkeley Forum at the Chevron Auditorium, International House on Wednesday, March 19, 2014, in Berkeley, ... more

Audience members stand and applaud as Senator Rand Paul (in red tie) arrives to address the Berkeley Forum at the Chevron Auditorium, International House on Wednesday, March 19, 2014, in Berkeley, Calif.

Audience members stand and applaud as Senator Rand Paul (in red tie) arrives to address the Berkeley Forum at the Chevron Auditorium, International House on Wednesday, March 19, 2014, in Berkeley, Calif.

Cheered by a youthful audience in one of the country's most liberal enclaves, Sen. Rand Paul - one of the Republican Party's leading contenders for the White House in 2016 - delivered a scathing rebuke to the U.S. intelligence community Wednesday, calling it "drunk with power."

"I don't know about you, but I'm worried," the Kentucky senator told 400 people who filled a hall at UC Berkeley's International House. "If the CIA is spying on Congress, who exactly can or will stop them?"

Paul's comments come one week after Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., took to the Senate floor to accuse the CIA of illegal computer searches intended to hinder her Intelligence Committee's probe of alleged U.S. torture of terrorism suspects.

Paul said Feinstein's allegations had shaken Washington. "I look into the eyes of senators and I think I see real fear," he said. "I think I perceive fear of an intelligence community drunk with power, unrepentant and uninclined to relinquish power."

'Great speech'

He said he had told Feinstein, " 'Great speech, everybody is talking about it.' I hope she will stand up, not let the CIA push her around, not let the NSA (National Security Agency) push her around."

More by Carla Marinucci

Feinstein's charges were denied by CIA Director John Brennan, whose nomination Paul filibustered for nearly 13 hours last March after the Obama administration refused to rule out drone strikes against terrorism suspects within the United States in "extraordinary circumstances."

In response to Feinstein's allegations, Paul said, the Senate should appoint a select committee - "bipartisan, independent" and with full investigative powers - to probe spying abuses.

Unlikely venue

Paul noted that he was taking his campaign to places that don't traditionally vote Republican. "Like Berkeley," he said to cheers.

"Part of it might be the Republican Party (must) ... evolve, adapt or die," he said.

"Remember when Domino's finally admitted they had bad crust?" he said to laughs. "We need a different type of party."

Paul has jumped into the lead among prospective Republican presidential candidates for 2016, according to a CNN/CRC International poll released this week.

Sixteen percent of the 367 Republicans and GOP-leaning independents surveyed said they favored Paul, compared with 15 percent for Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, the 2012 Republican vice presidential nominee. Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who is also in the Bay Area this week, came in at 11 percent.

Paul's Berkeley appearance dramatized his ability to fire up under-30 voters, the same group that helped put Barack Obama in the White House. Paul, however, delivers a far different libertarian message that government - particularly the agencies that scoop up millions of Americans' phone-call and e-mail metadata - needs to be restrained.

"He's helping to subvert what people think of when they think of Republicans," said John Dennis, who is mounting a GOP challenge to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi in her San Francisco district. "He's challenging the administration on the NSA more than anyone else. And his filibuster was so successful, the people on the left were cheering him on."

Far-right stands

But Paul, who scheduled Bay Area fundraisers in addition to his Berkeley speech, isn't likely to win a heavily Democratic state like California in a general election. He opposes abortion even in cases of rape or incest, would repeal nearly all gun-control legislation, and is against same-sex marriage, though he said the issue should be left to the states to decide.

He has recently attempted to tack to the left, suggesting that Republican leaders need to "agree to disagree" on social issues.

Robert Reich, the labor secretary during the Clinton administration who watched Paul's speech Wednesday, said there are few candidates "who can get a standing ovation at (the Conservative Political Action Conference) and at Berkeley."

But he added that if Paul "wants to get the youth vote, he has to change his position on abortion and gay marriage."

Latest from the SFGATE homepage:

Click below for the top news from around the Bay Area and beyond. Sign up for our newsletters to be the first to learn about breaking news and more. Go to 'Sign In' and 'Manage Profile' at the top of the page.